Thom Yorke:: The Eraser (Album Review)Dear Mr. Yorke,Why can’t you just make a new Radiohead album? Are you playing some sort of trick on us? I keep hoping that towards the official release of this record you’re gonna jump out of a cake, dressed like Pee Wee Herman and shout, “I was only fooling ya guys, haha, this is the new Radiohead album.” and ride off into the sunset with Dottie. Even then, I’d still be disappointed.

After giggling like a school girl for an hour at the scene playing out in my head, I thought about submitting a simple review of, “I just didn’t like it.” I came to my senses that I was being vague and cheap, but only after an hour. This should have struck me almost instantaneously, but I just couldn’t stop laughing and I began to wonder, “Am I gonna have to be ‘that’ guy?”

You know ‘that’ guy I’m talking about. The guy who gives a bad review of the new Thom Yorke album. Yes, I, your humble narrator, is ‘that’ guy. Somehow, through the modern miracle that is time, one minute to be exact, I got picked to review this record. I’m not going to badmouth it though, because there are some really good points to it. It just wasn’t my thing personally, that doesn’t mean you won’t like it though, right?

For Yorke’s first attempt at a solo record, it isn’t bad. Sure, it makes you realize how special Radiohead is as a whole. Most of it sounds like it could have been leftovers from Kid A/Amnesiac. That’s not a terrible thing, but I feel like I’ve heard it all before. The production is amazing. Honestly, that is the best thing about the record. The beats are danceable and somewhat catchy, but it doesn’t help the record stand completely on it’s own. There are times where they fade into each other and you really can’t tell that a new song has begun, which causes most of the songs to sound the same. The guitars are far and few between. The record feels empty and unfinished. I had a hard time really being able to focus because it seemed so uninspired, like a rushed product to hold people over until Radiohead could complete an album. Yorke isn’t breaking any new ground and that’s kind of sad. This is mainly for die hard fans, but I suggest you still check this record out. (Review:: Casey Schroeder)